Pipe extractor



Feb. 5, 1952 s. L. HANDFORTH PIPE EXTRACTOR Filed Sept. 19, 1949 WMJ/JPatented Feb. 5, 1952 2 4 01 PIPE EXTRACTOR Stanley L. Handforth,Wilmington, Del., assignor to the United States of America asrepresented by t e U d ta es Atomic Ener y ommie Application September19, 1949, Serial No. 116,555 9 Claims. (01. 294- 97 This inventionrelates to extractors for pipes and similar tubular articles, and moreparticularly to a clamp for extraction of vertical pipes from locationswhich are inaccessible.

It is the purpose of this invention to provide a novel device which maybe suspended at the end of a single supporting cable and lowered intothe end of a pipe, and, when in position, manipulated from a remotepoint by means of the cable to grip and remove the pipe.

The invention provides a durable tool which is inexpensive tomanufacture and simple to operate.

Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent fromthe'following description taken with the accompanying drawings whichrepresent one embodiment and in which:

Figure l is a front view in elevation of .a pipe extractor in thecontracted position illustrating the manner of insertion in the topportion of a P 1 Figure 2 is a front view in elevation of the pipeextractor of Figure ,1 in the expanded position;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 55 ofFigure {1; and

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1 an extractor generally indicated at It! isillustrated a contracted position. This extractor comprises generally aclamp actuating member l2 and a clamp assembly M. The actuating memberI2 is a triangular plate which contains an elongated slot it along oneside 18 extending to a base '20. At the angle between the ,Side 53 andthe base 20 the slot it has an upward bend 22. The actuating member i2is suspended at its apex from a pin 24 which traverses a yoke '26 (seeFigure 6). The yokeis secured to a bifurcated member 28, which ispivoted by a pin 30 to a triangular ring 32 that is attached to a singlesupporting chain 34,, In turn, the chain is suspended from an overheadcrane not shown in the drawings. As shown in Figure 6, the pin 24 passesthrough the top extremity of the elongated slot IS.

The clamp assembly It comprises a pair of clamp elements 36 and 38pivotally attached to the actuating member 12 by pins 40 and 42,respectively, near the base 29. In the contracted position-oi the clampassembly It, the pin 42 is situated on a lower level than the pin All.Near the lower ends the clamp elements 36 and 38 are coupled together bymeans of a link 44 (see Figure 5). The ends of the link 44 are insertedwithin semi-disk shaped recesses 46 and 48 the inner surfaces of theelements 36 and 33. respect vely, and are pivote .011 s 50 and 52. Thelower extremities of the elements are metres at 5 and 56 t f ee iteteert into then-open nd o a i 58 N ar e finger endsof the elem eQfiS 3.6and 3.8 are shoulders" 6!! add .82, resp ctiv l which l m t e extent .Q'n ertism-v Asvindica d i re ,3 a d 4- he outer edges'o'isaid elementsare curved in order to increase the contact surface with the wall of theip Operationof the extractor is simple. To insert the extractor intoapipe, the clamp elements SSYand SB'hang' in a contracted position. Thisposition existswhen the extractor is borne at the upper end of the slotit}, for then the horie zontal distance between the pivotal pins {illand 42 is relatively small. In this position the clamp elements 36 and38. are lowered into the pipe 58 until the shoulders .63 and 52 come torest upon the end of the pipe. The extractor then remains stationary andfurther lowering of the chain 34 by the overhead cranepermits the pin243 to slide downwardly along the slot'ifi untilit reaches the upwardbend'ii? which serves as a detent to pre} vent the pin from moving backup the slot; When the pin 24 is manipulated into the bend 22, the chain34 is raised by the overhead crane and the clamp actuating member i2 isrotated coune terclockwise about thefpin it, causing the pint? to rotatesimilarly about said pin. In efiect this' forms a lever of the secondclassf Since the pins 50 and 52 at the lower ends of the clamp elements36 anad 38 are equidistant from the re spective pins 40 and t2, the pin42 rotates with re pect to pin ill in a similar manner. By meansofparallel motion linkage of the link and the actuating member l2between the parallel clamping elements 36 and 38, the clamp assemblyexpands until the outer surfaces of the clamp eleeets a and a c ta he inwa of th pipe 55. At this point the rotation of the clamp actuatingmember 1'2 stops and the extractor it is in the expanded position, asshown in Figure 2, In the expanded position the horizontal anc bet e nhe p ots it and 4 i re er than in the contracted position, but thevertical d t nc i s F e a s ns fift s chain 3% n s o tates the c amactuatingmember l2, but serves to lift the extractor to and the ip 58 wih .i e extra t rmw be e also to install a pipe as well as remove one.

To withdraw the extractor from a pipe the;

above prooedure is reversed. Thus, when a pipe is lowered to a restingplace, the chain 3; further we ed to p rm the clams a tuat n member !2to rotate clockwise about the pivot pin so until the shoulder 82 comestovrest upon the top of the pipe 53. At this juncture the clampactuating member l2 stops moving, the clamp assembly It havingcontractedby means of parallel motion linkage. The pin it is thenmanipulated out of the bend 22 and the chain 34 is raised, causing saidpin to slide upwardly along the slot l6 'iintil it reaches the top as:

rin t th r 'e 13y mtintin e li t t an 34 the extractor I0 is withdrawnfrom the top of the pipe.

Although the drawings and above description indicate one embodiment ofthis invention, it is readily apparent that other embodiments areavailable. Accordingly, the invention should be limited only insofar asset forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is: H

1. A pipe extractor comprising, in combination,an actuating member,means mounting the' actuating member for rotation between two positions,and a clamp assembly comprising clamp elements pivotally attached to theactuating member and extending in one direction therefrom, said assemblybeing adapted to grasp the end of a pipe by the rotation of theactuating member between the two positions.

2. A pipe extractor comprising, in combination, an actuating member,means mounting the actuating member for rotation between two positions,a clamp assembly comprising clamp elements pivotally attached to theactuating member extending in one direction therefrom, and a linkfastening the clamp elements together at a position spaced from thefirst-mentioned attachment, the clamp assembly being adapted to graspthe end of a pipe by the rotation of the actuating member between thetwo positions.

3. A pipe extractor comprising, in combination, an actuating member,means mounting the actuating member for rotation between two positions,a clamp assembly comprising clamp elements pivotally attached to theactuating member extending in one direction therefrom, and a linkfastening the clamp elements together adjacent to their freeextremities, the clamp assembly being adapted to grasp the end of a pipeby the rotation of the actuating member between the two positions.

4. A pipe extractor comprising, in combination, an actuating member,means mounting the actuating member for rotation between two positions,a clamp assembly comprising elongated clamp elements substantiallyparallel to each other having one end pivotally attached at spacedpoints near one side of the actuating member, and a link fastening theclamp elements together adjacent to their free extremities, the clampassembly being adapted to grasp the end of a pipe by the rotation of theactuating member between the two positions.

5. A pipe extractor comprising, in combination, an actuating member,means mounting the actuating member for rotation between two positionscomprising a yoke adapted to be suspended on hoisting means, a clampassembly comprising elongated clamp elements substantially parallel toeach other having one end pivotally attached at spaced points near oneside of the actuating member, and a link fastening the clamp elementstogether adjacent to their free extremities, the clamp assembly beingadapted to grasp the end of a pipe by the rotation of the actuatingmember between the two positions.

6. A pipe extractor comprising, in combination, an actuating memberhaving a guideway therein, means mounting the actuating member forrotation between two positions comprising a yoke adapted to be suspendedon hoisting means and having key means engaging said guideway, a clampassembly comprising elongated clamp elements substantially parallel toeach other having one end pivotally attached at spaced points near oneside of the actuating member, and a link fastening the clamp elementstogether adjacent to their free extremities, the clamp assembly beingadapted to grasp the end of a pipe by the rotation of the actuatingmember between the two positions.

7. A pipe extractor comprising, in combination, an actuating memberhaving a guideway therein, means mounting the actuating member .forrotation between two positions comprising a yoke adapted to be suspendedon hoisting means and having key means engaging said guideway, a clampassembly adapted to grasp the end of a pipe by rotation of the actuatingmember between the two positions and comprising elongated clamp elementssubstantially parallel to each other having one end pivotally attachedat spaced points near one side of the actuating member, one of whichpoints is nearer the pipe when the assembly is contracted and whichpoint moves away from the pipe with respect to the other point as theclamp assembiy changes from a contracted to an expanded position, and alink fastening the clamp elements together at a position spaced from thefirst-mentioned attachment, said link being substantially parallel to aline connecting said spaced points.

8. A pipe extractor comprising, in combination, an actuating memberhaving a guideway therein, means mounting the actuating member forrotation between two positions comprising a yoke adapted to be suspendedon hoisting means and having key means engaging said guideway, a clampassembly adapted to grasp the end of a pipe by rotation of the actuatingmember between the two positions and comprising elongated clamp elementssubstantially parallel to each other having one end pivotally attachedat spaced points near one side of the actuating member, one of whichpoints is nearer the pipe when the assembly is contracted and whichpoint moves away from the pipe with respect to the other point as theclamp assembly changes from a contracted to an expanded position, saidlatter position being the clamping posi tion of the assembly, and a linkfastening the clamp elements together adjacent to their free extremitiesin a position which is substantially parallel to a line connecting saidspaced points.

9. A pipe extractor comprising, in combination, an actuating memberhaving a guideway, means mounting the actuating member for rotationbetween two positions including a key disposed in the guideway andadapted to ride in the guideway and being disposed adjacent to one endof the guideway when the actuating member is disposed in one positionand adjacent to REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordin the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,320,403 Mertian Nov. 4, 19192,018,154 Scott Oct. 22, 1935 2,476,608 Kinsey July 19, 1949

